Very nice, Perciful. I love the rock garden - that’s a great combination of rocks and plants/flowers. We have a a very sloped front and side yard, too - we’re thinking of putting in small beds cut into the hill instead of terracing, which will hopefully give a somewhat-similar effect, of having plants all over the hillside instead of half-dead grass.
Im always in for gardening talk! Im in Calgary also so zones the same. We have been in this house for about ten years now. Bought from builder so it was bare land. It was nice to have a blank canves this time around. I decided that since I hate grass we would brick the entire back yard and have raised beds. (yard is pretty small) I built the beds out of cinder block then parged them with cement mix then coat with a tufa mix. Turned out pretty nice. I have a bed running along the north/south fence with perennials (maltese cross, Heliopsis ‘Loraine Sunshine’’, daylilies, Campanula etc) and hops growing up the fence and some saskatoons along the other. In the middle bed I have a Joe Pye that get seven feet high every year and needs to be split, Pink Baby’s Breath Gypsophila, false sunflowers, Heliopsis, and lots of lilies. Speaking of lilies, anyone else got red lily beetles. Frackin things. Dont do much with the front since Im in the back so much. just low maintenance stuff.
Wow Perciful, you’ve done a really nice job there. That gives me all kinds of ideas for one particular part of the yard. How nice to have some topographic relief to work with.
I finally found the camera after the move so here’s a couple of shots. Cicero, that’s 3 yards remaining under the tarp, mulch and fountain. Gardentraveler, that’s the fountain we talked about before that the neighborhood kids love to Mr. Bubble. With the late start I went with lantana this year. Next year with a little prep it ought to be fun to work with.
Upthread I mentioned the Curving Italian Cypress. Strange, it really stands out in person but in this pic you have to look a little hatder. It’s middle of the picture coming out of the leaning pot to the right and then up. Here’s one of the Bird of Paradise and new Sago growth. Gotta straighten that Cypress in back. Any tips? Here’s the back after mulching with room still for more color. Work in progress. Nice to be done w/ mulching though. Between this house and the last that’s 8 yards spread this Spring.
I thought I’d sent some shots of the flower beds. Will get those added before too long.
Lieu, Wow, What a gorgeous yard you have! I love the hedges and the Cypress. Do you do all the upkeep or have a greens keeper? I like the fountain. Does it have lights for the night time?
Cat Whisperer, I didn’t take any pics today because I was out straight. I planted the tall garden phlox out front and moved a bunch of plants around. I wanted to take some pics of the perennial geraniums that are blooming. Hardy things and she has both blue and purple ones. I am very sick of Hostas as I have moving them all week. She must have a hundred Hostas. She uses them to keep the garden soil in place and to stop run off. She had an infestation of Carpenter ants on the breezeway so had to make some calls to the pest guy.
Old Joe, I love daylillies and Marguerite offered me some to take home for my garden. Hers are yellow. I like the Asiatic ones that smell good too but they don’t winter over well. Joe Pie weed is a plant I may look into. I have heard good things about it.
Time to put the Ben gay on. I’m beat! A day in the garden is always a great day 
You’ve got me confused now, Perciful - both daylilies and asiatic lilies are hardy perennials that overwinter just fine here (in Zone 3). Colour me 
lieu, your yard is indeed a work of art. It’s absolutely lovely.
Perciful, I prefer to do everything myself. I’m a putterer so when I’m not mowing or weeding or potting you can usually find me at the nursery or hardware store planning the next project. Twice in the last 5 years I’ve let someone in the yard to work. A mowing crew brought in TakeAll Patch and a mulch crew killed 3 of 8 large Cleyera when they put it against the trunks. No mas. Plus, it’s cathartic; good exercise and a way and place to get lost in your thoughts.
Chinese Hat and Bleeding Heart, Caladiums and Ruellias, and one of the birdbaths.
Thanks, Cat Whisperer, you too are more than welcome to come set a spell.
Excellent; {starts planning trip to Bedrock} 
You know, when I think about it, I’ve had plants killed any time I’ve had people in to do work in my yard, too. What seems so obvious to me (be careful where you’re whipping! That’s a good plant!) is not as obvious to them.
Old Joe, are you finding your plants really delayed and strange this year? I’m hoping once we get some warm weather and some warm rain it will help all the plants start growing properly.
We live in a townhouse so we don’t have much outdoor space, but there are four spaces around our patio. When we moved in, the space under the window had dead potentilla, the one on the right had spirea (ICK. I hate the spirea.), the one on the left had a giant arbor vitae that was trying to take over, and the one next to the fence had gorgeous shrub lilacs. Only the lilacs are left.
The right now has a bricked over section holding our grills. (Yes, grills plural. We’re serious about grilling/smoking/bbq’ing.) My husband made two 2’x4’ raised beds to go under the window last year for square foot gardenting. I have 3 tomatoes, 1 bell pepper, 2 SF of carrots, 2 SF of beets, spinach, lettuce, basil, cilantro, and parsley growing this year. We’re off to an early start here in Minnesota with a record-setting 95 degree day yesterday, which my tomatoes seem to be loving. After a very cool, dry summer last year, which resulted in a poor tomato harvest, I’m hoping this year will be better.
My husband removed the arbor vitae last fall and then dug that section out this spring and made a 2’x6’ bed in there. In the fall we’ll put in a peony and a dwarf hydrangea. But for this summer it’s an annual bed. We went looking for plants on Sunday, and Hubby wanted fiery colors. So we have reds, oranges, and yellows in dahlias, salvia, gazania, and calabrachoa. It’s going to be quite impressive when it starts to fill in a bit.
The neighbors do notice: I’ve had a few people stop to say they admire our patio.
A couple people have mentioned dogwood. Are we all talking about the same thing? I grew up thinking dogwood is a tree. But when I moved out here, I find out that Midwesterners think dogwood is a shrub. Just wanted to point that out in case anyone didn’t know there are two dogwoods.
Well, not only did I get okra seeds, but a nice banana slip and some sugar cane. I’m going to dig in the banana this afternoon, I’ve got to line out a fence I’m putting in to shade the tomatoes first - it’s quite windy up here , then stuff the banana in behind that line.
In Wisconsin dogwood would be Red Twig Dogwood, which grows all over in the wild. There is also Yellow Twig Dogwood.
We would say Flowering Dogwood for the tree which you don’t normally see around here.
I now have one each yellow, black, and red cherry tomato plants. I bought one Nudi tomato which is a local guy’s Italian tomato which is about one pound fruits, that is sold at one greenhouse. It’s a family heirloom variety. He supplies the seed every year.
old_joe, there’s a story on the news tonight about the lily beetle. I love lilies, but I haven’t got any in my new yard yet. Maybe I’ll have to hold off on those until I can be sure they won’t get eaten up by beetles. 
I thought lilies were poisonous to cats?
My cats have never bothered my lilies. Actually, they don’t really bother anything in my yard.
They are. Actually, they’re toxic to dogs and humans, too. Weirdly, though, you very rarely see lily toxicity in dogs–I’ve seen 'em eat damn near everything else, including pot and an entire pound of coffee beans, but never lilies. And all the cat cases I’ve ever seen have involved potted plants inside the house, never ones out in the garden. I don’t know if it’s coincidence, the increased variety of plants for kittehs to nibble outdoors, or that people are less likely to catch it in time with outdoor cats.
Wait until I get my duo out of the cattery tomorrow- garden won’t be safe.
And my pile of mulch awaits me. I should not have been lazy and I should have spread it by now.
I need some servants.
I should be outside edging my front lawn. It was raining a little bit, but now it’s stopped - I guess I’m out of excuses.
My nasturtiums, lettuce, and spinach are coming up beautifully, and my sugar snap peas have the beginnings of either buds or pods on them! Very exciting. The aphids seem to have diminished, but I’m still on the lookout.
My strawberries have lots of leaves, but so far no signs of blossoms. Should I pinch back some of the leaves to encourage berries? If so, how exactly do I do that?
On that note, can anyone recommend some good books or websites or something where a novice gardener can learn these sorts of things? I also suspect I should learn something about fertilizer, but I have no idea where to start.
I’d start with my local library - maybe something like “Idiot’s Guide to Gardening.” Also, my local zoo is also a horticultural society - I’ve taken all my landscape and gardening courses through them. I’m thinking about taking the Master Gardener course there this winter. Maybe you could google horticulture societies for your area. There’s a lot that transfers from area to area, but there’s also a lot about gardening that is particular to your location.
As for the strawberries, I don’t think I’d do anything to them. If they’re not blooming, it might be too early, or they might just be establishing themselves. In my experience, healthy, happy plants will bloom and produce fruit eventually, but it isn’t always as quickly as we think they should.
I’d recommend going to the library, too, stargazer. This is one of my favorite basic books. She covers a little bit of everything. Also, you could look for classes at botanical gardens or parks or through extension services.
Wow, lieu, your garden looks lovely. And the image of Mr. Bubble in that fountain is…:eek:
Nice rock garden, Perciful.
I’ve been pretty lazy this week; planted a couple of containers, but that’s pretty much it. There’ll be lots to do over the weekend. Glad it’s a long one.
Hi fellow gardners,
It’s been a busy week and the walkways fell through so it will be next week. I had a day off Wednesday and wanted to work in my future garden but was beat. It was also very hot this week and they are predicting El Nino conditions this summer.
Cat Whisperer, I didn’t know that! I have always thought they were tender. I may get some because they smell wonderful.
Lui, Wow is all I can say. That is a lot of upkeep and you keep it pristine. I liked the bleeding hearts hats and never saw that type before.
Thanks Garden Traveler. Our library has a good selection of gardening books.
Cicero, Send them to my house when your done. I dragged two bags of weeds to my car today and I have 8 more to go to the dump. Oh my aching back!
Harmonius, Our town planted what I think is white dogwood trees and they are beautiful . I did not know about the bushes but I do now.
Taxi, Annuals are nice and I have an annual patch to do for my client. I love all the new colors of Supertunias they have.
Have a wonderful weekend!